160 HANDBOOK OF IRIDE.E. 



fibres produced above its neck. Basal leaves 5-G, linear, very 

 rigid, l|-2 ft. long. Stem including inflorescence 2-4 ft. long ; 

 spikes several, cernuous, with the flowers crowded towards the 

 top; spatlie-valves lanceolate-acuminate, ^ in. long, membranous, 

 brownish or dotted with brown. Perianth white or pale or dark 

 mauve-purple, with a tube ^-^ in., and oblong segments ^-1 in. 

 long. Stamens half as long as the limb. Style-branches Vi in. 

 long. 



Var. PUMiLA Baker. — Leaves very narrow. Whole flowers not 

 more than ^ in. long, white or mauve-purple. — Mountains of Natal. 



Hab. South-eastern provinces of Cape Colony, ascending to 4500 ft. on the 

 Boschberg, northward to Natal and Mount Kilimanjaro. 



2. D. puLCHERRiMA Baker in Journ. Linn. Soc. xvi. 90. Sparaxis 

 puhherrima Hook. fil. in Bot. Mag. t. 5555. — Habit of D. pendula, 

 but more robust, with broader leaves. Stems 5-6 ft. long, larger 

 spathes and larger flowers, typically bright blood-purple. 



Hab. Cape Colony ; Uitenhage northward to the Transvaal. 



43. Streptanthera Sweet. 



Perianth with a short funnel-shaped tube and spreading sub- 

 equal imbricated obovate segments. Stamens inserted at the throat 

 of the perianth-tube ; filaments short, flattened ; anthers linear, 

 basifixed. Ovary oblong, 3-celled ; ovules many, superposed ; 

 style as long as the stamens, with short spreading clavate entire 

 branches. Capsule small, subglobose, membi'anous, loculicidally 

 3-valved. Seeds small, subglobose. — Routstock a corm with fibrous 

 tunics. Leaves short, flabellate. Flowers 2-3 in a spike ; spathe- 

 valves large, membranous, dotted and streaked with brown. 



1. S. elegans Sweet, Brit. Flow. Gard. t. 209 ; Lodd. Bot. 

 Cab. t. 1359. — Corm ovoid, 1 in. diam., with fibrous tunics and a 

 long neck. Leaves 6-8 in a basal rosette, lanceolate, glabrous, 

 moderately firm, 3-4 in. long. Stems forked low down, a little 

 longer than the leaves, each branch 1-2-flowered ; spathes ^ in. 

 long, toothed at the top. Perianth-tube ^ in. long ; limb f-1 in. 

 long, white with a yellow eye bordered with dark purple at the top ; 

 segments obovate, much imbricated. Stamens half as long as the 

 segments. 



Hab. Cape Colony; province of Tulbagh, Dr. Thorn ! 



2. S. cupREA Sweet, Brit. Flow. Gard. ser. ii. 1. 122 ; Paxt. Mag. 

 i. 8, with figure. Sparaxis cuprea Klatt. — Corm, habit, and leaves 

 of S. elegans. Peduncle shorter than the leaves, simple ; flowers 

 2-4 in a spike ; spathes ^f in. long. Perianth an inch long, 

 copper-yellow, with a purple throat bordered with black with a 

 yellow spot in the centre. 



Hab. Cape Colony ; known only fi-om the figures above cited. It flowered 

 in Colville's nursery in 1838. 



44. IxiA Linn. 

 Perianth with a straight usually short cylindrical tube some- 

 times dilated into a funnel at the throat and subequal spreading 



